Why Did BIR 'Fail' to Collect Marcos Estate Tax? Senate Probe Sought

A measure has been filed in the Senate seeking an investigation into the alleged failure of the Bureau of Internal Revenue to collect the estate tax liabilities of presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos' family amounting to P203 billion.

In filing Senate Resolution 998, Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III also sought to identify the past and present BIR officials responsible for the failure to collect the Marcos estate's tax dues.

Pimentel said the estate tax liabilities of the Marcos family could be used to fund the subsidies to be provided to poor Filipinos to cushion the blow of rising fuel prices.

"There is no clear funding source for these proposed subsidies and it is immediately obvious that the government would be hard-pressed to source the much needed funds in order to support these social alleviation measures," his resolution read.

"The payment of the estate tax liability amounting to more or less P203.819 billion on the part of the heirs of Ferdinand E. Marcos in favor of the government, as it has all the right to do so, would be more than enough to fund these proposed subsidies," it added.

Pimentel also stressed the need to look into the reason why BIR officials have failed to collect the tax dues all these years. The Supreme Court ruling ordering the payment of these tax liabilities became final and executory as early as March 1999.

The BIR earlier confirmed upon the request of the Aksyon Demokratiko party that it formally asked the Marcos family to pay their estate tax liabilities last Dec. 2, 2021.

Marcos' rivals in the May 9 presidential elections agreed during a Comelec debate that he skipped that his family's estate tax dues must be paid so that it can be used to assist farmers and the transportation sector affected by the rising fuel prices.

MORE ON THE MARCOS FAMILY:

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